MORENO VALLEY — Defense and special teams. They’re not the most glamorous aspects of football but occasionally being strong in those facets of the game can secure critical victories. For Orange Vista High football coach Greg Zomalt and his team, Friday night’s game at Rancho Verde was one such evening. The Coyotes (6-4 overall, 5-0 Ivy League) scored two first-quarter touchdowns and used stellar performances from their defense and special teams units to hold on for a 13-12 victory over Rancho Verde that secured a third straight Ivy League championship. “To say that our offense struggled tonight would be an understatement, but part of being a complete team is seeing other parts of the game rise to the moment in what was essentially a playoff game,” Zomalt said. “Games like this prepare us for that chase for six more games, which begins next week.” Rancho Verde (6-4, 4-1) got the scoring going early when junior quarterback C.J. Thompson found Amarion Orange for a 22-yard touchdown pass with 26 seconds left in the first quarter. The PAT attempt was blocked. It took two plays for Orange Vista to answer that touchdown. Facing a third-and-17, Khalil Abdul-Aziz rolled to his right and found Donovan Morton behind the Rancho Verde secondary for an 80-yard touchdown pass with 10:53 left in the second quarter. A successful PAT attempt gave the Coyotes a 7-6 lead. Braylen Turner came up with an interception that set up Orange Vista’s second score – a 1-yard touchdown run from Preston Yen for a 13-6 lead with 3:02 left in the first half. Rancho Verde had a chance to score right before the intermission, but the Coyotes’ special teams came through with their second block of the night on a 35-yard field goal attempt to preserve the seven-point lead. All told, Orange Vista’s special teams blocked two field-goal attempts and a punt, while the defense produced Turner’s interception and a fumble recovery. Related Articles High School Sports | Lola Carson’s field goal lifts Rancho Christian football team past Hemet in Sunbelt League title game High School Sports | Fontana football team routs Bloomington to secure playoff berth High School Sports | IE Varsity’s Week 10 high school football scoreboard High School Sports | Moreno Valley football tops Canyon Springs for Inland Valley League title High School Sports | Summit football dominates Eisenhower for Sunkist League crown “We might be an undersized defensive line, but tonight our guys did a great job of controlling the line of scrimmage and taking away their running game,” Orange Vista defensive coordinator Shawn Fleming said. “These last couple of weeks we’ve really started to put things together on both defense and special teams … two parts of the game that aren’t easy to get kids to commit to working on.” With 1:23 left in regulation, Thompson found Orange for a 25-yard touchdown pass that cut the deficit to 13-12. Rancho Verde went for a two-point conversion and was unsuccessful, with the Mustangs’ sideline believing they should have been awarded a second attempt because they thought a pass interference penalty went uncalled. Both teams have qualified for next weekend’s CIF-Southern Section playoffs and will learn their first-round opponents when the pairings are revealed on Sunday morning.